Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) EVP Buys $10,564.56 in Stock

Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) EVP Lo B. Nestman acquired 268 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, June 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $39.42 per share, with a total value of $10,564.56. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now owns 3,583 shares in the company, valued at $141,241.86. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Heartland Financial USA Price Performance

HTLF stock opened at $43.89 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $43.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.94. The company has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.44 and a beta of 0.97. Heartland Financial USA, Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.44 and a 52-week high of $45.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The bank reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.08. Heartland Financial USA had a net margin of 8.17% and a return on equity of 11.33%. The business had revenue of $279.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.73 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Heartland Financial USA, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Financial USA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on HTLF shares. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Heartland Financial USA in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Heartland Financial USA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Heartland Financial USA from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.60.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Financial USA

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HTLF. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in Heartland Financial USA during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Heartland Financial USA during the fourth quarter worth $50,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 37,550.0% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,259 shares of the bank’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 2,253 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 695.2% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,807 shares of the bank’s stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 2,454 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Heartland Financial USA during the first quarter worth $167,000. Institutional investors own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

About Heartland Financial USA

Heartland Financial USA, Inc, a bank holding company, provides commercial, small business, and consumer banking services to individuals and businesses in the United States. The company accepts various deposit products, including checking, demand deposit accounts, NOW accounts, savings, money market, and individual retirement; certificates of deposit; and other time deposits.